4

I'm in the process of building a web app called Vybecast. I brought vybecast.com (and various other vybecast.tld's) a while back. Since then I've managed to secure and purchase vibecast.com (and also various other vibecast.tld's).

After thinking long and hard about it, I've decided to stick with vybecast.com. I also have twitter @vybecast and facebook.com/vybecast - Personally, I like the playfulness of the 'y'.

The ultimate aim is: a normal URL might look like vybecast.com/username/slug. If someone incorrectly types in vibecast.com/username/slug I'll work some .htaccess magic to automatically forward to the first URL without any drama.

While I'm still building my app I want to teach search engines that if someone typed 'vibecast', did they mean 'vybecast'. I know this ultimately an impossible task as I cant change search algorithms. However, apart from http://vybecast.com pointing to a simple holding page, is there anything I can do with my other domian names to help search engines learn while I am still building the app and not worried about what traffic goes to vibecast.com at this stage?

At the moment, I have the luxury of manipulating my domain names until I'm nearly ready to launch.

Is there anything I can do now, such as a mini pages/site explaining the vybecast/vibecast link before I have to effectively point all my domain names to the same server/IP.

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
4

Google and other major search engines are pretty good at learning and returning brandings that are purposely mispelt. Even my own site spelt BYBE Google used to returning results for 'BABY' and 'BABE' for almost a year, other good examples:

  • Flickr
  • Reddit
  • Digg
  • Tumblr
  • Mashbord
  • Fiverr

All purposely misspelt; Google will associate the correct and incorrect association with the websites. You need to earn your misspelt branding with Google and other search engines, to do this its generally standard SEO.

Sit back SEO

The biggest factor with any SEO campaign is time, don't be in a rush. Do it right, and things will stick.

On page SEO

  • Always use the incorrect spelling of your branding/domain name, do not regularly use both because you think it'll help association, it'll likely confuse Google and not tie in with your citations.
  • If you want to mention at least once the correct spelling then do so for your users, on your about us page or a blog post for example.

Off page SEO

  • Citations help if your a real business, it's considered one of the easiest legit methods of getting your site ranked, Google will association NAP (Name Address Phone Number) to your website and ultimately give it authority and will help to your national or local rankings.
  • This goes without saying, links is the bread and butter of SEO, however... One good link is worth a 100 crappy links, self created links are often links you don't need or want. You shouldn't need to worry about anchor text because your citations will do that for you.
  • Mentions, Google and other search engines are good at associationing mentions, maybe people assume the only way search engines can reward sites is through backlinks, this is completely false, to understand this a bit more you need to have a think about what a back link is and how easily it would be for search engines to scan for mentions, a mention could be something like <p>vybecast, tel: +441202 5555555</p> another fine example would be this exact page you have made, even without your backlink its a mention and will help somewhere down the road.
Improve this answer
2
  • Thanks, thats really helpful. I'm certainly not in a rush and this project isn't about 'SEO ranking'. It's more someone heard about Vybecast verbally, so when they search for it online and presumably type 'vibecast' I've done everything I can to make sure that the search engine understands what the user really meant. It's interesting you mention not to associate both vybecast and vibecast as to not confuse search engines. Luckily, there is no dominant force owning those search terms, and happy to play the long game so hopefully it will eventually swing in my favour :)
    – Jack Barham
    Jun 6, 2015 at 11:48
  • 2
    @JackBarham These terms come from Google's dictionary which can also contain brand names. This is important to know because the mechanism is fairly straight forward. Go for branding signals. I count 46 which are too many to list here. The major elements are schema.org mark-up for company addy, phone, e-mail, locations, etc. Another is branding the site in general. But the last element is much harder to do. Brand searches- both primary and secondary. In this case, users must be searching using the brand name. This is an absolute requirement. Without it, branding with Google will never happen.
    – closetnoc
    Jun 6, 2015 at 21:50
1

If you suspect people would misspell so much, consider to simply change brand name. It's reasonable.

Anyway: you would find queries with misspelled brand name in your Webmaster Tools. If some of them get a discreet amount of traffic, just bid them on AdWords. It would come cheap.

No, Google won't learn anything from what you do on AdWords, but at least you won't lose visitors.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.